Wednesday, 1 September 2010

Sponsors of Redsurfbus

Hot Sails Mauiproduce sails that 'are built to handle'. I became a team rider for them at the end of 2011, and shortly after received most of my quiver of theHot Sails Grand Prix Slalom (GPS)race and speed sails, in sizes 8m, 7.3m, 6.6m and 6m, along with the recommended97%carbon Hot Rod masts. So far I have found the designer Tom Hammerton to be very knowledgeable and approachable. In the UK there is a good strong team building and we aim to show that these are some of the best sails to use. I have a lot more information and started a review process here.

Hot sails produce a wide range of sails, from specialist wave through everyday wave to crossover and freeride, then to the other extremes of speed with a logical step from one design to the next. They are renowned for build quality and their wide wind ranges.

Over time I hope to have reviews for many of the designs, with a wide range of opinions from different riders. If you have any questions they have a great forum.

Exocetare a long established brand with an excellent reputation for build quality and some ground breaking designs. After testing and reviewing theirSL Sport boards which were kindly supplied by Ian Kraft of SurfKraft - the UK Agent. I was very happy to accept a position on his team as I found the boards a pleasure to ride and very fast. At present I am building a quiver ofRS slalom boards down to a speed board size, to complement mySL Sport 78 which is my big slalom board and summer lightwind cruiser. In the future I will be doing tests on a wide range of their boards.

Exocet produce boards for all conditions, from hardcore wave through to beginner and light wind summer cruising. They also do a wide range so Stand up Paddleboards, and are currently constructing a custom division which I hope in the future will make me a 45knot+ speedboard.

Black Project Finsare also designed by Tom Hammerton. After using them with the Exocets on demo I rushed out about bought 3. Following this and my reviews I gratefully joined the team in the UK and have got well on my way to finishing a full quiver of great fins that I have every confidence in when riding in all conditions. They design a range of fins, at present I have most of theType R slalom and race fins and Type S speed finswith just a few left to complete the collection. Next I will be trying theirType X speed rated fins.

Pura vida boardriders are my most recent sponsor. The founder Jim Brooks-Dowsett has a great business mind and is full of passion for our sport. He also runs a media company which has meant he has managed to get windsurfing into the mainstream media of Sky Sports, with footage of the BWA. Jim also custom builds boards.

Recently they joined forces with the OTC at Portland Harbour, Kev Greenslade is the man to go to for any purchases from Pura Vida and Tris Best for rental kit from the OTC.

Pura Vida stock all of my other sponsors kit, and I bought my first slalom kit from Jim a few years ago. Get in touch with them for a bargain, as long as its from Hot Sails, Exocet, Black Project fins or Chinook obviously ;-)

Last and by no means least are my latest sponsors, Chinook who make all the best bits. I already have a full set of Chinook kit, from mast extensions, mast feet, booms (both alloy and carbon), and harness lines. I have always chosen them in the past due to their build quality, the only problem with this is I have never had a Chinook piece of equipment break so I have no idea how long it will be before I can actually take full advantage of being sponsored by them.
Chinook is supplied in the UK through most good windsurfing outlets byKBay. Ed at KBay is a well known member of the windsurfing community, having had a good trade in custom boards in the past and is still one of the best board repairers there is.

GPS-Speed.co.uk are not an offical sponsor but they are where I will always go for my GPS units. Tris Haskins runs the site and is a well known speedie, and also one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet. If you are in the market for a GPS then go over to his site and send him an email quoting REDSURFBUS you will get 5% off the total order price or an SD card for free, your choice. He also stocks many other useful things such as Leatherman tools, you are not a real man without one of these ;-)